Yukimura Seiichi Hospitalized
by alexisonfyre
Summary: Yukimura has a revelatory experience the night before his surgery takes place. Very sad story.


**Title: Hope**

**Summary: **Yukimura has a revelatory experience the night before his surgery takes place. Warning: very very sad

**Disclaimer:** I do not own prince of tennis, well the only character here is Yukimura. Hope can be considered my brainchild but she is really a frequently used metaphor.

**Rating:** K

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**Midnight: Hospital**

Yukimura gave out a cry of frustration. Dammit! He could just barely lift his arms anymore, and even when he did, his arms felt so weak that it only succeeded in frustrating him even more. He couldn't sit up without help, and forget about walking. Yukimura growled. As if in response, a yelp echoed in the hall, accompanied by a nurse's voice. The door opened and closed. Yukimura looked over to see a small child, most likely around the age of eight running over to hide behind his bedside. She must be one of the orphan children who lived in the hospital.

_How could the world be so cruel to so many people?_ Yukimura wondered. A nurse opened the door and asked if he had seen a child.

"Nobody comes in here." He said icily: half explanation, half command. The nurse, not understanding but sympathetic, backed out and resumed her search. After the footsteps in the hall faded away, the girl got up and crouched by the bedside.

"Arigatou." She said. She looked over my face.

"Eh, you look healthy." she said in her tiny voice, "Why are you in the hospital?"

I did not answer. I had been glad at first that I was not alone within these four white walls. Now I wasn't sure whether the child was sent as company or torture. What did this foolish child know of my suffering? She was not bedridden. She was the one who did not belong in the hospital; no doubt she had run all the way from the pediatric ward. This only made Yukimura more depresssed and irritated. He debated yelling at the child to leave him alone.

"Do you have parents?" She asked.

"They're at home." Yukimura said in a vehement tone. He had never met anyone this irritating, and yet she was only around the age of his own sister.

"I saw people playing tennis on tv, is it fun?"

Enough with the questions!

"Is the world pretty outside?"

"Go out and see for yourself!" He spat. The child was silent. How silly that I was as spiteful of this girl as I was towards the doctors, whose black hearts had already determined my fate: never to play tennis again. The little girl shook her head.

"I'm not allowed to go outside, the doctor says I have heart disease."

_This girl..._ Yukimura realized with shock... _has never been outside of the hospital_. She stared at him with her large eyes.

"You are lucky," she said, "you're family is cheering for you, so you'll definitely get better." She pulled out a stuffed teddy bear. "Dobo is cheering for me, so I'll get better too and then I'll go outside someday."

Why was this child so optimistic? She had lost her parents, been hospitalized since she was born, and yet she still had so much faith! _What if I had been born in her place?_ Yukimura thought. _I would never survive._ The girl crawled under the covers and curled up, using his shoulder to cushion her head as she fell asleep. "Dobo is cheering for Hope, and he's cheering for you too." Yukimura willed his arm to move despite the pain. He patted the head of the already sleeping child. That's right, everyone was cheering for his recovery. _I can't let them down_. Yukimura thought before falling asleep.

Yukimura woke up feeling the absence of the little body next to his. A nurse rustled on the other side of the room. He woke up alarmed and searched for the child, but the only thing he found was the teddy bear. He sat up. The nurse helped him, but it still took a lot of effort.

**The Next Morning, Day of Yukimura's Surgery**

"Where is Hope?" He demanded. The nurse was hesitant to answer.

"The girl we found with you... she had an attack this morning. I'm sorry."

Despair washed over Yukimura's panic. He looked at Dobo. The world had taken away something dear to him again. If faith couldn't save the child, then what would save him? He remembered the child's words. Was he really lucky to live through so much pain? Then his determination returned to him. He had people who were depending on him. He could not let them down. He would survive the surgery.

**After the Surgery**

The surgery was a success. Yukimura found it ironic that Hope had died on the same day as his surgery. By a cruel twist of fate he was standing outside, breathing the fresh air, and she was not.

"Did you give up your life for mine?" He asked no one in particular. Yes, even though she was no longer alive, he felt that Hope still lived on inside him.

_If you can feel what I feel, then I hope you can finally know what the world looks like on the outside, and what playing tennis really feels like._


End file.
